Silence Can Kill a Village
by Blue-Eyed-Hime26
Summary: Sakura was gone.Her older sister,her mentor,her best friend-murdered.But she wouldn't tell.No one could know who killed her.Orange hair turned pink and pale skin turned rosy.She didn't belong here,Sakura did.But as long as he was around,she wouldn't tell.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Okay this is an old story so the first part of the story is 'eh' at best. Later chapters are better I PROMISE! Also, if you read any of my other stories that I haven't updated in months there will be updates! Enjoy ^^**

Sakura Haruno has been brutally murdered and the only witness is her younger sister. The only problem; the traumatized girl refuses to speak about it.

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><p>"Shikamaru! Where's the girl?" Tsunade barked, taking long strides down the corridor of the Hokage's Mansion. <em>Her<em> mansion. Shikamaru stepped quickly to keep up with the female Hokage.

"She's under the watch of the ANBU in the room next to your office." Shikamaru panted. Tsunade nodded and stopped running, quickly flashing herself to the afore mentioned place.

Shikamaru stumbled to a stop and looked around wildly.

"Ugh, how troublesome!" he cried throwing his head back in exasperation. (A/N LOL please just imagine this!)

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><p>Tsunade banged angrily on the door.<p>

"Open up this instant! Hokage's orders!" she shouted. An ANBU member swiftly pulled the door open and she was ushered inside before the door was bolted shut. Tsunade's glare softened when she caught sight of the little girl huddled in the corner of the room hugging her knees to her chest. Tsunade approached the girl with the pale orange hair slowly. She waved off the ANBU members and they bowed before disappearing.

"What's your name sweetheart." Tsunade asked the girl softly. She looked up and her bangs fell off her face revealing big jade orbs. Tsunade's breath caught in her throat as she saw her former apprentice in this young child's eyes.

"Che." (Pronounced Shay) the girl whispered. Tsunade nodded.

"How old are you sweetheart?"

"Tw-twelve." Tsunade saddened. Sakura was only 2 years older than this girl when she died.

"And Che sweetheart, do you know who killed your sister?" Tsunade asked, hiding the urgency in her voice.

Che looked up slowly with a blank expression. Tsunade thought she had zoned out for a moment there until the girl nodded hesitantly.

"I… I recognized them." She said indirectly answering the question. Tsunade rubbed her temples.

"And do you know this person by name?" Tsunade continued to question.

Che looked toward the door as if expecting the person to burst through at any moment. Again, she hesitantly nodded her head.

"Are you going to tell us who did it?" Tsunade said finally.

Che's eyes briefly filled with fear and she shook her head furiously. Tsunade sighed heavily.

"Then I'm afraid that until you do, you won't be leaving this room." She said quietly before flashing out of the room leaving Che sobbing on the floor.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru sighed heavily upon receiving the information from Tsunade. The girl definitely knew and she was being defiant. That made his job much more difficult.<p>

"Are we sure that the girl herself didn't do it?" he asked tiredly. Tsunade nodded her head, equally as tired out.

"We already checked her out. Che doesn't posses enough chakra to kill Sakura, even if she had wanted to." She informed him. Shikamaru sighed heavily before leaning back on two legs of his chair with his feet on the table.

"Then I suppose I'll be conducting an investigation?" He drawled. Tsunade raised and eyebrow and nodded her head.

"I think Che's being threatened by whoever Sakura's killer is. Whenever she's asked to reveal their identity she becomes frightened. But she obviously knows the person by name and face. It's definitely peculiar." Tsunade said, biting the pad of her thumb anxiously.

Shikamaru sighed, tipping his chair back to its upright position and standing.

"Then I'll be getting started now if you don't mind." He said. Tsunade waved him off, lost in her own thoughts on how she would get information out of a traumatized girl without totally shattering her.

And she had a few friends of Sakura in mind that could emotionally relate to the child…


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n Okay chapter two gets better at the end and chapter 3 is the most recent so I swear it's better! hang in there!**

"Send him in." Tsunade ordered with her hands folded on her desk. Shikamaru nodded and walked out of the room.

The man waited for him in the hallway and Shikamaru merely waved him away, not feeling the need to use words. He honestly just didn't have the time or patience for the man today so when he opened his mouth to respond Shikamaru raised a hand to silence him, turned on his heel, and walked away dragging his feet.

* * *

><p>The pounding on the door startled Che and she scooted farther into the corner, attempting to make herself disappear. Whoever was at the door obviously wasn't going to be coming for a friendly visit.<p>

Finally, abused from all of the pounding, the door crashed down. When the dust settled Che's eyes widened and she immediately knew that her demise was near…

"Che! How wonderful it is to be seeing you again!" Rock Lee shouted enthusiastically from his perch on the pile of wood from her former door. He had one hand on his hips and the other in his signature thumbs up. Che groaned loudly and slumped farther onto the floor. If Tsunade was trying to push her to the limit, this was probably going to be a long afternoon.

"I am extremely apologetic for destroying your furniture! It was entirely unyouthful of me! To make up for it I will run 300 laps around Konoha!" He shouted with tears streaming down his face and his hand clenched in a fist. Suddenly his tears stopped flowing and he seemed to remember why he was there.

"Che, how are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm just peachy. My sister was murdered and now I'm being punished for it." She said stonily. Lee sighed.

"The reason for your punishment is not the fact that Sakura was murdered. It is the fact that you knowingly refuse to help us bring them to justice." Lee explained gently. Che's eyes flashed and she stood quickly from her position in the corner.

"I don't want to hurt anyone!" She screamed suddenly, holding her head in her hands. Lee gasped and took a step away from her. Che continued screaming incoherent things about not wanting to hurt people and Lee grew nervous. In her fit of rage Che picked up a chair and threw it at the wall, attracting the attention of the ANBU, who quickly flashed Lee out of the room.

"Ninja Art: Wood Style Jutsu!" One of the ANBU named Yamato called, building a wall of oak in place of Che's destroyed door before he too, flashed out of the room.

* * *

><p>"Well?" Tsunade demanded as Lee suddenly appeared in her office. Lee rubbed his eyes and looked around dazed for a moment, wondering how he had ended up before the Hokage. Suddenly he remembered what had happened and he quickly bowed on one knee in front of her desk.<p>

"I tried talking to the girl… She thinks she is being punished for Sakura's murder and when I explained to her that it wasn't her fault she became erratic and started screaming that she didn't want to hurt anyone." Lee reported. Tsunade nodded her head, absorbing the information. The murderer was obviously somehow making contact with Che…

"Thank you for trying Lee, we may call you back at another date." She said dismissing him. Lee bowed his head before standing up and walking out of the office.

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><p>Lee walked down the streets toward his apartment with one thing on his mind; Sakura. He had loved her so much and he was glad that he had told her, but he was still hurting that she never truly returned his feelings. Yet she was still perfect. Beautiful, smart, funny, kind-hearted… usually… Well, either way she was perfect to him.<p>

Lee stopped walking suddenly and remembered the promise he made earlier today; 300 laps around Konoha for breaking down Che's door. Wiping the forming tears out of his eyes Lee headed towards the outer perimeter of the village with determination in his eyes.

After his 56th lap Lee heard a rustling in the bushes next to him and a figure stepped into his path.

"You-" Lee gasped out. But being completely caught off guard and paralyzed with shock and fear, that was all he managed to say before he was swiftly decapitated.

"The girl won't talk. She values her own pathetic life too much." The figure chuckled to themselves before putting their hood back on and wrapping their cloak tighter. Maybe the pathetic girl needed a visit… a small reminder…

* * *

><p>"Che." The cloaked figure muttered lowly from the doorway. Che's head snapped up and her eyes widened.<p>

"How did you get in here? T-the ANBU? T-they-?"

"The ANBU? C'mon kid, this is me we're talking about." The figure said cockily. Che nodded quickly.

"O-of course…" she agreed quickly bowing her head. Suddenly her head snapped back up and she had fear in her eyes. "I haven't told anyone I swear! Why are you here!" She asked desperately.

The man chuckled darkly and Che's blood ran cold in her veins. She recognized the laugh from the night Sakura was killed. And just like that, Che's mind was flooded with memories of her sister, and then, her sister's death. As soon as the man saw Che's emotions running rampant in her 12 year-old mind he wove a few hand signs and Che's face went from scared and sad to completely stoic.

"Now," he said walking over to her still figure. Che remained still against her will, obeying the foreign jutsu that had overtaken her. It was as if her body was just a shell, an emotionless cage around her and she was there, right beneath the surface. She was crying and flailing desperately on the inside as the man approached her. She was screaming and calling for help and mourning her sister all at once and her heart threatened to burst. "I have a message I don't want you to forget." The man continued.

"You've been good, but I want better. I want them to believe that you've been so damaged beyond repair that they'll _never_ get information out of you." Che flinched when the man grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look at him. "If you do this, I will spare your pathetic little life in this village and take you away with me." Che knew that even on the outside she looked shocked. "If you don't… well I won't hesitate to reunite you with your sister."

And just like that, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n YAY chappie 3! Please please please review! I have been SO un-motivated lately and so my updates... yeah not so good... **

**Okay enjoy anyways!**

Che's head began pounding as the jutsu wore off and its owner got farther and farther away… but he was never too far.

Go away? With HIM? Che could hardly bear the thought. But was it better than death? Che was weighing her two options while Tsunade stood outside her door, ready to send the next person in.

"Hey kiddo, you promise not to freak out on me?"

"Ohayo, TenTen." Che didn't even look up. TenTen smiled sadly and made her way over to Che, plopping down on the floor next to her. Che picked at her cuticles and TenTen watched her, not really sure why she was here.

Well, she knew WHY she was here, she just didn't know why she had been chosen. It wasn't as if she and Sakura had been very close. They respected each other but beyond missions, TenTen barely knew the pinkette. Tsunade had chosen her solely based off of the fact that she was one of the last people to see Sakura, coming home from a mission the morning of her death. Sakura greeted her and Neji at the village gates, walking back towards town with them since her shift was over. TenTen had no idea that when she saw Sakura walk through her door and waved goodbye, her immediate death followed when the door closed.

"This sucks, huh?" TenTen finally said. Che looked up and raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a new one… "I'm willing to bet you don't really wanna talk about it." Che hesitantly nodded her head and TenTen shrugged, pulling out a weapon and beginning to polish it. Che returned to her cuticles and the pair sat in companionable silence.

Finally TenTen spoke.

"If you don't wanna talk about you, would you mind if we talked about me for a second?" TenTen asked with a grin. Now Che was really starting to question TenTen's mental stability. What had Tsunade even sent her here for? Girl Time? Che nearly scoffed out loud at the very idea. It seemed ridiculous with Him around every corner. But Che nodded anyway and pretended to look interested in what TenTen had to say.

"Great! I need a little advice from someone who won't go blabbing, and I figure your pretty good at keeping secrets." TenTen said with a wicked grin. Che's face broke into a smile. The way TenTen talked about her made Che feel really… well… bad ass to say the least.

"Well here's the deal, there's this guy-"

"Neji Hyuuga." Che cut in. It wasn't even a question in the young girl's mind. Che was rewarded when TenTen's face turned a bright shade of pink. "If you can't drop names in an ANBU protected room with a girl who never leaves, when can you?" Che grinned, feeling her barriers slip away. Maybe Girl Time with TenTen was just what she needed. Too bad that she would probably never see her again after this visit. She would be either dead, or have fled the village.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." TenTen said with another one of her grins. "Well Neji and I have been friends for a while, I guess you could say. But I've started to notice him… noticing other girls." TenTen looked genuinely troubled as she said this and Che nodded to show she was still listening. "Like Ino, for instance. Sure, she's pretty and blonde with perfect skin and tight clothes and she's funny and smart and…" TenTen caught herself rambling. "But, I bet my life I could hit more targets than her in a throwing contest!" TenTen insisted.

TenTen looked down at her lap as she kept talking. "He always notices her. Everyone notices her! When she's not even trying, guys stop and stare. Every time she walks by while we're hanging out, and trains next to us, Neji can't keep his eyes off of her!" TenTen was seriously upset at this point and didn't notice Che get up and move to stand behind her.

Che smiled to herself and without a word pulled the bobby pins out of the older girl's hair, squealing happily as long, brown waves cascaded down TenTen's back and tumbled over her shoulders. TenTen jumped up instantly, years of reaction to that type of thing kicking in.

"Hey! What gives?" She asked, grabbing her bobby pins back and trying to throw her hair back into its signature panda buns. Che grabbed TenTen's wrists with surprising strength, keeping her from touching her hair.

"TenTen!" Che laughed. "Look at yourself." The young girl steered TenTen over to the small mirror just big enough to see your head in on the side wall. TenTen and Che looked in the mirror together, TenTen's face shocked and Che's was elated.

"You look great." Che whispered, unable to take her eyes off of TenTen's reflection. The older girl's chocolate eyes seemed to glow, her silky hair draped around her and framing her face. Che never used the mirror before, and when she caught a glimpse of herself, she remembered why.

Che didn't see herself in the mirror. She saw Sakura. Looking back at her was not a scrawny girl with pale orange hair and a skinny face, it was a strong young woman with vibrant pink hair and rosy cheeks. The girl in the mirror had determination in her eyes but a laughter and softness too. Che saw Sakura holding TenTen by the shoulders and smiling at her friend, right where she belonged. Che didn't belong here.

TenTen noticed Che's mood shift and saw the girl staring into her own eyes in the mirror, completely transfixed and horrified.

"Che?" TenTen said quietly, putting a hand on Che's shoulder. As if the weight of TenTen's hand was too much for her, Che instantly crumbled to the ground when the weapons master touched her, breaking her trance and bringing her crashing back to reality.

"Tsuna-!" TenTen began to scream, but Che leapt up and covered her mouth.

"No! TenTen please don't! I'm fine, I'm sorry!" Che whispered urgently. TenTen gently took Che's hand off of her mouth and cautiously stepped back. TenTen's sudden fear of her didn't go unnoticed and Che took her own step away from the other girl. Che's walls went back up immediately. TenTen was no friend of hers, she was sent her by Tsunade to crush her resolve. None of this was real.

Che didn't belong here.

"You should go." Che said, returning to her short, clipped way of talking. TenTen's now luminous brown eyes saddened, but she didn't resist. "And…" Che started. TenTen stopped walking away and turned to look over her shoulder at the small broken girl, sitting on the floor alone once again. "Tighter pants." Che said with a ghost of a grin playing at her lips as she eyed TenTen's baggy capris.

And then, with a final smile, TenTen was gone and Che was alone again. Che felt tears run down her face and she furiously wiped them away. She wasn't sad about losing TenTen. She couldn't be, she never truly had her in the first place. But the truth was, that was exactly why she was crying. That, and the fact that He could reappear at any moment now that she was by herself.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-


End file.
